The adventures of two little dragons (Maisie and James) who keep defying the odds and changing the world, one day at a time. James suffered pProm at 12 weeks; the twins were micro-preemies born at 27 weeks weighing 1lb 11oz.

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Friday, December 27, 2013

Holy Moly. Where do we begin? Maybe a run down of the past week or so, just to make sure we don't miss anything. We've been without phone service and had very sporadic Internet connection, so bear with us.

Friday 12/20 - Christmas Party with Santa at my work. The babies had an amazing time and stayed up past their "night night" time. Maisie nearly exposed Santa's fake beard. James made a few new girlfriends.

Saturday 12/21 - We packed all day and the babies spent the day with their Aunt Angie. She was exhausted.

Sunday 12/22 - The babies and I spent the morning playing and eating the rest of the fresh food in our house, and then they went to my parent's house for their first sleepover. Jimmy and I packed and cleaned until nearly midnight, and although we missed the babies for our last night in our old house, it was more important to get things accomplished.

Monday 12/23 - Moving Day! We were up at the crack of tying up loose ends. The movers showed up around 10 and we were done by 3. We couldn't have been more satisfied with the crew from Two Men With Big Hearts. They were first class! The little dragons were still with grandma and came to our new house around 5:30.

By 6:00, I was putting our new car seats in the car and we were on the road shortly thereafter. The agenda: James's first official haircut! He and Jimmy were scheduled for 7pm and we made it just in time.

James absolutely loved his haircut. He was such a ham. He enjoyed every second of it. Maisie was impatient during the whole process and probably a little jealous that we didn't chop her hair off too.

Richard Morrill, Owner of Modefi Salon and James before the cut.

P.S. This was actually James's third haircut - he has had one for each brain surgery but we only received the locks from the birthday neurosurgery.

After the haircuts we were in the car again, eating Chick Fil A, and heading back up the hill. When we got home Maisie was keyed up but James was out cold. She tried her best to wake him up but nothing she did worked. Once we got their bedding back together, the babies went "night night".

Tuesday 12/24 - Christmas Eve. We didn't do anything except unpack. The little dragons played all day. They absolutely love the new house. It's a ranch and there's a lot of room to roam. They have their bedroom, a play room, and two living rooms to destroy with their thousands of toys. So far though, it's staying pretty clean.

We watched a short snow storm as we cuddled on the couch, and we began to use the kitchen table and chairs with our booster seats for the first time. Lots of new changes around here! The babies learned to say "hot" (stove / fireplace) and "snow".

Wednesday 12/25 - Christmas. Santa came overnight and a beautiful Christmas Tree appeared in our sunroom! We opened presents in the morning then headed off to my cousin's house for the afternoon. The babies ate a TON of food. Then, we went to Jimmy's parents house and ate more food. Lots of presents were opened by the little dragons! We made it home a little late for "night night".

Thursday 12/26 - Happy Birthday, Little Dragons - 18 months old. We kept working on unpacking and organizing the house. The babies played with their toys and roamed around the house, eating carpet fibers, helping fix things, and throwing Chex everywhere. We went to lunch at Wendy's and visited Ace Hardware.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

We are living in box land. The babies have been amazing but of course they are the least impacted by our impending move. The little dragons are on a "business as usual" type of schedule but they definitely know something is up.

Yesterday we closed and officially became homeowners! The past week has been crazy getting last minute loose ends tied up and now, realizing that our move is extremely imminent, also trying to resolve a couple of issues with our new house in Conifer.

Tonight we took the babies up to the house for the first time; they'd been there briefly during a tour but it just wasn't the same. They were thrilled and so excited to start exploring their new house. We have a lot to do, but it will be so worth it.

***

Last week a post on another blog went viral about an 8 month old's Christmas Wish List. It was pretty fitting for Maisie, who loves to get in trouble. However, it just wasn't right for James. So, in the spirit I made our own little wish lists for the Little Dragons based on their current likes.

8. Eating bean. Not to be confused with the sitting bean and throwing bean. Bean may be interchanged with other food item. Throwing bean or other item can be eaten after 24 hours if it is thrown somewhere where mommy and daddy can't find it, and fast fast crawling and escape plan is in place to evade capture.

James:

1. Big green ball.

2. Light up ball with holes.

3. Big red ball (Anne, please return to me).

4. Squishy light-up ball.

5. Ball.

6. Maisie's ball, which was my ball but she stole it.

7. Both the green and red balls together.

8. Night-night ball.

***

And a final PS and milestone for this week: James pulled to standing in his crib!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

The little dragons had their December Synagis shots yesterday and had to go out in the frigid weather. They did great as usual but were not very pleased with the whole thing.

Maisie weighs 17lbs 14oz and James weighs 15lbs 7oz.

When I got home last night I found a photo from last year, nearly 365 days ago, when we visited the Perinatal Center. The babies were just SO small then. I just had to compare them to today.

Although these car seats (Graco Snugride 22's courtesy of There With Care) have been amazing for over a year now, the little dragons are just about out of them from a height perspective.

So, for Christmas the babies have received a wonderful new present:

Hopefully these new Convertible Car Seats will allow our babies to stay rear facing for a very long time, which is the safest positioning.

***

Over the last several months we've been busier than normal, and things are finally coming together enough that I think we can share our big news.

The little dragons are on the move. We are buying our first home, are currently under contract and are due to close next week. It's been a crazy journey of ups and downs for the past 8 months, touring hundreds of houses with the little dragons in tow after work and on our days off. It's been insane and we are so happy that the next part of our journey is coming to fruition.

We are moving to my hometown, to the foothills just southwest of the Denver area. While it will mean a longer commute, our new home will be a great place for the babies to grow up. We are thrilled.

So, I'll do my best to keep updated while we are in chaos as we plan to physically move two days before Christmas and be totally out of our current home on New Year's Day. We might be crazy, but that's nothing new.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

This post could have various titles. Our life has been so busy and is pretty darn hilarious at times... But I guess we'll settle for the traditional and do a summary of the past week or so.

1. The Fight of the O's

How I wish they made surgical cones or something of the sort to prevent toddlers from pulling off their oxygen. Tender grips no longer work. Bandages and tape don't work. Creative swaddling, coercion, and begging don't work. Scare tactics and bribes don't work. Apparently Maisie is smarter than everyone else and she has decided that she does not need oxygen. Luckily we will get a pulse ox test this week to prove it.

The first and only night she wore her oxygen.

2. Addicted to Pudding!

James has a problem. He is super addicted to pudding. We hope he will continue to gain some weight. We blame my mom but at the end of the day, we'll do anything to boost this little dragon's caloric intake.

3. Words that rhyme with "Yuck"

The little dragons have so many words that they are coming up with. Interesting things come out of these little mouths - but we'll keep it PG. Words they know: mama/mommy, dada/daddy, papa, baba, night night, Mayme, ball, up, down, no, uh-oh, done, bear, book, baby, guck, go, bye bye, bum, bump, etc. They also communicate in their own language which sounds something like "ya-ba-da-ba" and "do-be-do-do-ba".

4. So yeah, I feed myself.

James has been feeding himself pretty much everything. Veggie straws, chex, puffs, cheese, meat, and other finger foods. He definitely does things on his own pace, but he doesn't skip a beat. I am pretty happy that we developed an Early Intervention IFSP that we conquered before our sessions even began.

5. Toys? What toys?

The little dragons currently are on a strike from toys. They will play with anything but their toys. Perhaps they just find real life more interesting - but they love getting into trouble and exploring. Today they spent a good hour playing with a box and a half an hour playing with a lid to a jar. They fought over the shopping cart and a few balls, and otherwise were entertained trying to climb the stairs and get in trouble. They do like to go to "Toy Island", but it's short lived.

6. Planking.

James's new thing is planking. He likes to climb on top of things and stay stiff as a board, and then escape to the other side. I am so proud of how far he's come and how physically strong he is (he can climb up the stairs nearly on his own now, and with help he could do it with just his upper body. He is THAT strong). For a kid who was Saran-wrapped for 15 weeks in the womb, swaddled for the next 4.5 months in the NICU, and who had so many things going against him he is making great progress physically. While he is behind Maisie from a motor skills perspective, he just does things on his own time. And when things happen they are pretty darn amazing.